Daughter of the Demon (I)

Daughter of the Demon-1-Girl in Black

Chapter 1: Girl in Black

~Jacob~

She was there the first day of junior year, lying down on her back atop the stone wall in front of Heart high school. She was in a tight black lace shirt and ripped up black skinny jeans. She had long wavy black hair that cascaded down her back and around her shoulders. The only make-up she wore was thick eyeliner and mascara that brought out her grey, grey eyes. She was beautiful in a dark, mysterious way, but one of those people you don't approach in high school, not unless you want to risk social suicide.

My friend Trevor nudged me and leaned over to whisper in my ear. “She moved here a week ago, and some of my friends saw her. They told me she lives alone because her parents didn’t want her.”

I narrowed my eyes at the girl. “Really.”

“Yeah. Her name’s Jemma Knight.”

Trevor said her name so softly, but she turned her head and looked at us as if she heard Trevor’s whisper-soft voice. Her eyes met mine and she held me there, and I felt as if my feet were glued to the concrete. Trevor had to tug on my arm to pull me away. Even while he dragged me down the sidewalk toward the front doors, I couldn’t help but look back. Jemma was no longer staring after us. Her face was lifted to the sky again, and maybe it was just me, but, I thought I saw the shimmer of a tear slide down her cheek.

*****

In home room Jemma sat in the very back, gazing out the window. I was joking around with Trevor while Mr. Foster (the homeroom teacher) sat at his desk with that look on his face all teachers get on the first day of school. The, oh hell my blood pressure can’t handle another year with these kids look. I saw it every year.

Trevor punched my shoulder and I turned on him, rubbing my arm. “What was that for?”

“One, you aren’t listening to any freaking thing I’m saying, and two, here comes your girlfriend.”

I rolled my eyes. Angelina Wright was the hottest girl at Heart high school and the captain of the cheerleading squad. I know, I know. She had it all, so why didn’t I want her? Being captain of the basketball team, it was an unwritten rule that I was supposed to date her. But I didn’t want to. She was shallow and self-absorbed and even though she made every guy drool, she just wasn’t my type.

“Angelina,” I said shortly as she sat in the desk beside me. She was wearing the usual short skirt and revealing top she ordered from Slutty Weekly. Her face was so caked with make-up sometimes I wondered if what she showed at school was even her real skin color. She batted her eyes in such a rapid fashion it seemed like she had something stuck in it. I shifted uncomfortably in my chair, shooting Trevor daggers as he tried not to laugh.

“Hey, Jakey,” she cooed, grabbing my arm and running her hand through my mop of dark brown hair. I tried to tug away but her inhumanly long nails dug into my skin like knives. I winced.

“How are you?” I asked through gritted teeth.

“Well, since you asked . . .”

I groaned. That was the wrong thing to ask Angelina. She would just go on and on for a fucking eternity about her life and how everybody in it pisses her off and she will not once mention something good about anybody but herself. I mentally tuned her out, giving an absentminded nod or “uh-huh” once in a while. I turned my attention to the back of the room where a crowd of kids were gathering around Jemma.

“Dude, we don’t welcome goths to this school,” my friend Jamie spit, fingering her black lace-up boots. She didn’t respond. She continued to stare out the window.

A girl named Jasmine sneered at her. “Why don’t you go back to hell and tell the devil we say hi?”

Jamie high-fived Jasmine and I shook my head. I hadn’t noticed when Angelina stopped talking but now she was looking in the direction of Jemma, too. I thought, holy crap don’t go over there. Once Angelina started talking about you, your life was over.

Sure enough, she stood up and I flashed a worried look at Trevor. He shrugged a helpless shrug and we turned to watch the life of the new girl end on her first day.

Angelina deposited her swinging hips in a chair across from Jemma, who finally shifted her gaze from the window to Angelina. Her eyebrow went up in question and distaste.

“So, you’re the new girl?” Angelina asked, hunger written all over her features. Yeah, hunger all right. Hunger to claw her way into Jemma’s life and tear it up bit by bit with her own two hands.

Jemma only stared.

“Around here, you should speak when you’re spoken to . . .but I guess you didn’t have a mommy to teach you that.”

Jemma’s eyes twitched in irritation.

“You see?” Angelina announced to the whole class. “She’s mute!” she shook her head.

“Angelina . . .” I tried, but she waved me off, leaning forward over Jemma’s desk so she was in her face.

“I bet you’re demon-spawned, aren’t you? Is your mother a demon?”

I don’t exactly know what happened in those split two seconds, but a strange shadow crossed Jemma’s face and she jumped out of her chair. Angelina matched her movements and she screamed, “You devil-spawned child! I bet your mother’s a whore!”

I looked in desperation to see if the teacher was seeing this, but he was conveniently not there. I turned my attention back to the scene unfolding before me.

Then, the next thing I knew, Jemma had folded her hand into a fist and punched Angelina Wright square in the face.

Angelina toppled over, crashing into a desk on the way down. She held her right eye and her nose was gushing blood. Dead silence. Nobody even had the nerve to say bad things about Angelina, much less punch her in the face.

Angelina stared with wide eyes as Jemma crouched down and got real close to her face. When she spoke her voice was smooth and even and soft, and it made me shiver. “You know nothing about me,” she whispered, and walked briskly toward the door. On the way out she met my eyes and I felt something---something---though I don’t know what. But it was there, and it was scary.

“Bitch!” Angelina screamed after Jemma, but she was already gone.

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